Category: Recap

June Recap

Holy crap, it’s marathon month! Where did June go???

June started with ouches and whimpers as I iced and rolled and stretched and dropped my running days down to 3. I hated doing it but it’s what was needed. I switched to survival mode and focused most of my attention on my long runs. That said, my monthly mileage wasn’t too bad for a survival mode month. 😛

I did not run any races in June but did successfully complete my first 20 miler. And I liked it. Who knew? I felt pretty good after it too…at least for a few days. Now, I feel like I am learning to run all over again. I think I resemble a baby giraffe at the moment. But more on that in my week 14 training recap.

Oh, and I hit 502 miles for the year by June 30- sweet!!!

Now, it’s July. It’s marathon month. It’s also my birthday month. San Francisco will be my first race in a new age group. Truthfully, I can’t decide if I should be more alarmed at the speed that the race is coming or the reminder that I am getting older. 😛

How was your June?

Plans for July?

Happy 4th of July!!

May Mileage

Holy crap.

So yeah that happened. For the first time in 5ish years of running, I cleared 100 miles in a month. I used to chase that goal so hard and fall so short every time. Until this month. Thank you marathon training. The part that freaks me out is that I missed 4 runs over the month- 2 easy, 1 speed work and last weekend’s long run. That would have been another 35+ miles. Say what?!?

There were a few races too-

SLO Marathon 13.1
Bands on the Run 10K

The month started with a bang and ended with a whimper. I won’t lie; I am tired. I need to work on getting more sleep. Or better sleep, but both are easier said than done. Any tips? May also brought me some gnarly shin pain. My speed work has screeched to a halt since last week’s intervals and I am trying not to freak out about it. Lots of RICE going on around here. I would like to run 13 miles this weekend- even though the training plan only calls for a 10 mile long run- but right now I wonder if either is likely.

My first run of May was a half marathon, my last was a whimpering 3.5. I am choosing to look at the shiny of all those miles I ran and try not to think too much about my shins. My original plan for June includes a 20 miler, my current training plan says no. I am still hoping for it though. I would also like to get back to running the tempos- oddly enough, I missed it this week. Who would have thought? #stupidshins

How was your May?

Any plans for June?

Bands on the Run 10K 2016

I love this race but man I have a short term memory when it comes to dune sand. 😝

This is my 3rd time running the 10K portion of the event and I keep cracking jokes that I get slower every year. The race benefits a local high school music program and is very low frills. Which is fine by me, I am always impressed that they have their own designed bibs. Most smaller, local races use the free Road ID ones. They offer a 5k, 10k and a half marathon. All the races are out and backs. I considered running the half in lieu of my long run that week but decided against it. I am so glad I made that choice.

Packet pickup took less than 5 minutes on Friday and that included parking. 😃 I was able to get what is a decent nights sleep for me pre-race- 6 hours- but that was only because the race had a late start. The races started at 10. 10? This is California! I have never had a race start that late. Most half marathons start at 7 or earlier, 10K’s around 8. If you’re really lucky, a 5K may start at 9. Maybe. I have troubles fueling properly on a normal basis, how the hell do I fuel for a late 10K? I know that beach races are dictated by the tides though so this must have been the best option. It was ridiculously cold when we first got to the high school so I was optimistic it would stay that way. After a fitness warm-up, the presenting of the flag, the Pledge of Allegiance and National Anthem, we lined up and were off!

Miles 1-2 9:35, 10:41

Mile 1 takes you around the track out the parking lot into the cypress tunnel trail and down to the beach. Since I was running this in place of the week’s tempo, I was perfectly content with mile 1. I also don’t think I could PR this course if I tried. 😝 Just before you exit the cypress tunnel to hit the beach you run through the drum line which is always awesome. Then mile 2 starts. And I pretty much came to a standstill. I’ve run 6 races on the beach but I still have no idea how to run over soft dune sand. I just keep sinking. I swear one of these times I am just going to take my shoes off and carry them. I tried to bring my pace back down once on the hard pack but the damage was done.

Miles 3-4 9:59, 10:03

I was tiring and that was not cool. I wasn’t even halfway, what was going on? I also noticed that there were more rocks and pebbles and things on the beach, then I realized how far up the beach we were. This was not low tide. We had to cross some rocks to get to the turn around point. Little rocks but they were still wet. The half marathoners were scrambling over big rocks as they kept going. To my untrained eye, it seemed like the tide was coming in but I had to have been wrong. How were the half marathoners going to come back?! Once at the turn around, I knew I only had 3 miles left and told myself to pick up the pace. Except I couldn’t seem to find another gear. The moisture in the air was aggravating my asthma but I just tried to ignore it. I just told myself to focus on running towards the rock.

From 2014, the tide was much higher on Saturday

Miles 5-6 10:42, 10:31

Damn, I’m consistent on the dune sand. Those miles are within 1 second of each other. I hit the dune sand with a lap pace of 9:40 for mile 5. By the time I was out, I was at 10:42. I was also regretting running without my headphones as all I could hear was myself sucking wind- ha! I was hoping to pick up the pace on the last mile but I was toast. The sun had come out the last 2 miles and it felt like the temp had jumped 20 degrees. Once more through the drum line and the cypress tunnel then back around the track to the finish. I saw my mother on the sidelines and tried to muster up a smile. Some of the pictures she shot show that smile, some show some truly horrible form. 😛 My Garmin shows that I picked up the pace for the last bit but I felt like I was running in quicksand.

Finish- 1:02:38
See, slowest one yet! 😉

Now, if my intention was to treat it as a true tempo for marathon training, then I mostly succeeded. My overall pace was right where I needed it to be even with dune sand miles. In all honesty though, I was hoping for a better showing. I don’t even think it was my time that disappointed me, it was how hard it felt. This was only 6 miles, how on earth am I ever going to run a marathon?!

All that aside, I still love this race. Sore calves, sand in my shoes and all. I look forward to running it next year. Maybe a little faster? 😉

2016 SLO Half Marathon Recap

Sometimes it’s just not your day. And that’s not always a bad thing.

Race day came early but I felt like I had slept ok. Much better than last year at least, my Up band tells me I got around 5 hours of sleep. Could have been worse. I had no idea what I was going to wear until I put it on. It was not one of the outfits I had tried on the day before. 😝

My mom was my driver once again (thanks mom!) so we headed out around 5:45. She was able to drop me off at the same place as previous years, so I only had a short walk to the start line. I ran into Heather along the way. Perfect timing! We headed straight to the porta potties. Lines for days! Seriously, for the second year in a row I started way behind all the pacers. The race started right on time at 6:45. I had no clue what I was going to run- I would have thrown a party for a sub 2:10 but also been happy with a 2:10-2:15. While April was a very strong training month, I was tired. Perhaps more than I thought.

Miles 1-3: 10:08, 10:07, 10:49

Not too bad. Miles 1 and 2 were about what I was expecting Mile 1 is downhill and 2 is uphill so keeping at that pace was where I wanted to be. Heather and I were running together and it was cool getting to race together. Mile 3 is where one of the longest climbs starts. Last year I motored up it with no problems. This year, it was kicking my ass. It should not have felt that hard.

Miles 4-6: 11:06, 9:47, 10:48

And my first walking break. I was already tired, I couldn’t seem to get into gear. Strange thing- my toes went numb on both feet around mile 4. Umm, what? It leveled off a bit and we picked up the pace. I don’t remember that mile feeling any different but it clocked in at the fastest. We made it past where I fell last year and kept running. Mile 6 was where we started uphill again. This is not a course for the faint of heart.

Miles 7-9: 11:44, 10:47, 10:29

Hello, walking again. This time longer. I am so thankful for Heather sticking with me, I was realizing that this was not going to be my best showing. We passed through the Cliff shot zone and I grabbed a citrus shot in hopes that it would help. The turn around comes a little past the 7 mile mark, then we get some downhill to enjoy. There was more walking in those miles as well. Heather knows everyone, so we made some friends along the course. 😊

Miles 10-12: 11:19, 10:45, 11:19

With only 4 miles to go and it being mostly flat to downhill, I was optimistic that I could pick up the pace. I say I because I was the one slowing us down. I was dragging, couldn’t find another gear to get into and had to use my inhaler a few times. It had turned out to be a very warm morning and was a little more humid than I would have liked but those things shouldn’t have effected me that much. Mile 12 has a bridge that we have to switchback up then down and it kicks my butt every year. This mile also had the last aid station. It was manned by volunteers from one my work locations- and my boss’s boss- so I tried to at least smile at them when we past. It may have looked more like a grimace. 😝

Mile 13: 10:43 -13.1 (8:31 pace to finish)-

Seriously, I was in a dark tunnel of misery here. Not really sure why. My calves were achy but nothing major, I was just beat and really needed to see that finish line. Once again, Heather was awesome- I probably would have walked so much more without her keeping me going. There is a tiny climb right at mile 13 that feels like a mountain and then it is all downhill to the finish. That road seemed so long!!! I spotted my mother along the side and tried to smile but again I think it was more of a grimace. I dodged some people and crossed the finish line.

Finish- 2:21:55

We got our medals and headed for the water. The expo area was kind of a hot mess when it came to recovery. Water was the only thing that was easy to locate. It took some effort to find the food and then more to find my mom. Once I did, we took some pics before heading out. I may have stuck around a little longer but that gel hadn’t settled well with my stomach so I was ready to get going.

Not the race I was hoping for but you can’t always get what you want. However, the day was still good. I got to run a course I love- hills and all- and it has pretty great spectators. I got to run with a great friend and there is nothing bad about that. 🙂

Training Week 18 Recap/ April Wrap up

Upcoming Race– SLO Marathon 13.1

Focus– Keep calm and don’t freak out about the weird leg pain 😝😓

By Monday morning, my left leg was feeling better so I was hopeful that was the end of my weird leg pain. I was optimistic about returning to running as usual. However if you read my Prepping for SLO post, you know I was suffering what must have been the taper crazies. Except as I write this, I realize that I didn’t taper. My mileage stayed the same. Oops.

Monday- 4 miles I headed out after work for what I hoped would a nice, easy run testing my new shoes for the first time, Skechers GoRun Ride. I kept it pretty easy and my legs felt ok. My shins were a little achy but overall it was a good run. The shoes felt pretty good but I wasn’t going to push it. 4 mile test run and then I put the shoes away for the rest of the week.

Tuesday- 5 miles More easy paced miles. I had only planned on running 3-4 miles but I felt pretty good so I kept going. I ran a slightly different route than usual and it ended with a pretty sweet downhill. I’ve noticed that it takes me a good 2-3 miles to warm up now so most of my runs feel better at the end. I actually negative split this run. I also got to run past the creepiest ice cream truck ever. First of all, I didn’t even know they still existed. Also you could see where they had painted over the old logo on the truck. Apparently, in its former life it was an electrician’s truck. Ummm, no thank you.

Wednesday- Rest Pizza night and it was pretty yummy.

Thursday- 3 miles My leg felt fine all week and that lasted until around 4 PM Thursday. I was standing at my boss’s desk talking to her and I felt the same muscle/ tendon/whatever shift again. Seriously?! Cue a dull ache and some limping. Grrr.

I caved and headed to the lake. With my leg being off, I figured flat and easy access to my car would be a good thing. I ran headphone free and with my pepper spray and paid extra attention. Which was also a good thing as there were some new additions to the path-

Friday- Rest Stupid leg. I wore heals today as my legs usually feel better in them than flats. I also sat a lot.

Saturday- SLO Expo day!! I wasn’t running but I knew the expo would be a bit of walking, so I made sure to wear actual running shoes instead of flip flops. My leg/hip felt a little better but again I was planning on moving as little as possible. The expo was laid out different than previous years and seemed smaller. But let’s talk about the really important part. SLO Ambassador meetup!!

It was great getting to catch up with everyone I met last year as well as meeting the new ambassadors. Our jackets are super nice if a little big. 😏 I’ve been feeling super fluffy lately and not liking pictures of myself but I had to share this one. Check out that photobomb!

Sunday -SLO Marathon 13.1 I didn’t fall!!! Other than that, the details will be in the recap on Wednesday. 🙂

Overall, it was a varied week. Running was ok but my weird leg thing kept lingering. Thursday ached the most and Friday was uncomfortable. Apparently I forgot how to do math since 25 miles is on the higher end for me. Oops. Speaking of mileage, let’s talk about April–

Hot damn, I think that’s my second highest mileage month ever. Maybe third. Wait, no, I just checked- this April was my highest mileage month ever. I really thought I had had a higher one. Guess there all no limits to the denial I was living in. Higher mileage aside, April was a stressful, emotional month. All of that meant poor sleep; combine that with all the running and I am so tired. I relied on a little too much coffee and soda to keep me going. Going into May, my mileage should keep increasing but I am hoping for some better sleep and less reliance on caffeine, fingers crossed.

Bring it May.

How was your week?

Anyone race this weekend?